Armistice

1. Armistice Canadian History

2. What is an Armistice? • It is the effective end of a war. • Warring parties agree to stop fighting. • It is a formalized truce during which time the two warring sides agree to a peace treaty. • Does this mean that there was no real winner?

3. Armistice to End the War of all Wars • Signed in a railway carriage in France. Put an end to the fighting. • Allied and German representatives met and signed the Armistice at 5:00am on November 11, 1918. • Did not come into effect until 11am Paris time. • 11th Day, 11th Hour, 11th Month…

4. People Involved • Matthias Erzberger: German politician (civilian). Opponent of the war. Was eventually assassinated. • Also included in the negotiations were a number of key German military personnel. • The Allied Supreme Commander: Ferdinand Foch (Marshall of France) • Rosselyn Wemyss who was the British Representative.

5. Allied Demands • Immediate clearing of Belgium, France, Alsace-Lorraine. (14 Days) • Surrender 5000 cannon (chiefly heavy), 30,000 machine guns, 3000 trench mortars, 2000 planes • Surrender of 5000 locomotives, 150,000 railway coaches, 10,000 trucks. • Maintenance of enemy occupation troops through Germany.

6. Allied Demands • Unconditional surrender of East Africa • Return of prisoners of war. • Return of the property of the Belgian Bank, Russian and Rumanian gold. • The blockade remains in effect. All German ships to be captured. • Armistice to last 30 days.

7. Paris Conferences • Following the Armistice the Allied powers met with German leaders in order to come up with a peace treaty. • Basis for the Treaty of Versailles a particularly harsh treaty for the Germans. • Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points become a key feature of the Treaty of Versailles.

8. Features of a One Sided Treaty • One of the most important features of the Treaty is where Allies placed the blame. • All of the Allies had hidden agendas for the Treaty of Versailles • France, a country that has had an extensive history of invasion wanted to make sure German would never invade again. • England, the supreme naval power wanted to cripple Germany’s naval power. • Both wanted revenge to varying degrees. • The United States just wanted to go home and ensure that a war like this would never happen again. (14 Points)

9. 6 Months Later…. • After 6 months of negotiations and strong opposition to the Treaty by the Germans it was finally signed. • June 28th, 1919.

10. Terms of the Versailles Treaty • Germany would accept responsibility for the war. (war guilt clause) • Germany would limit the size of its army and navy. • A buffer zone was created between France and Germany along the Rhine. • Alsace and Lorraine was returned to France. • German had to give up West Prussia and Poland in order to create an independent state.

11. Terms continued… • Germany was forced to give up all its colonies to the League of Nations (created through the Treaty). These colonies were then divided among the ‘winners’. • Germany had to pay reparations. (33 million dollars) A lot by their standards.

12. Effects of the Treaty • Embarrassment: German had been one of the greatest industrial powers since the early 19th century. This was a slap in the face. They did not feel they started it, nor did they lose. • Reparations were unrealistic. • Lost many key industrial factories so returning soldiers were offered few opportunities.

13. The Treaty • Many experts feel as though the Treaty of Versailles laid the groundwork for Hitler’s claim to power. • By 1939 Germany had violated many of the terms and the Allies did very little.

14. Activity • Evaluate the Armistice and the Treaty of Versailles. Based on your knowledge of the World War 1 do you think that the Treaty was too harsh. Explain your answer.